This invention relates generally to handling equipment for particulate materials and more particularly to a spill-resistant system for transporting and dispensing hazardous granular or particulate materials.
In operations requiring hazardous chemicals or other noxious substances, the Environmental Protection Agency and other regulatory bodies are imposing stricter regulations on the transportation, handling, application, disposal, and reporting of actual usage of chemicals. These regulations, along with public health concerns, have generated a need for products and systems which address proper handling of hazardous chemicals.
To reduce the bulk quantity of chemicals handled, the applied concentration of the chemicals has been increased. This has raised the cost of chemicals per unit weight and has also required more accurate dispensing systems. For example, typical existing systems for dispensing agricultural pesticide use a mechanical chain driven dispenser. Normal wear and tear on such mechanical dispensers can alter the application rate of pesticide by as much as 15% and lead to application variations of that magnitude within a single row or field. This represents a very significant cost penalty, even if all the pesticide is deposited on the fields; because any excess application is wasted, and any insufficient application is ineffective and, therefore, also wasted.
In addition to the excessive dispensing losses described, a small amount of pesticide may be spilled while opening the chemical container, while pouring the chemical into the dispensing equipment, or while connecting and disconnecting the chemical transport containers and the dispensing equipment when the unit is so equipped. Even a small quantity of accidently dispensed chemical may result in a significant cost penalty; because the toxicity of pesticides may result in serious environmental damage and in adverse health consequences for exposed persons.
The foregoing illustrates limitations known to exist in present chemical transporting and dispensing systems, and it would be advantageous to provide an alternative directed to overcoming one or more of these limitations. Accordingly, a suitable alternative is provided including features more fully disclosed hereinafter.